Seen as one of the favorites for the championship in the CrossCar category, Elias Svensson took his first victory of the 2023 season last Sunday in Tierp. This was a relief after the first three races where the Swede had a succession of ups and downs.
This time, Elias Svensson did not flinch. Specialist of extreme recoveries since the beginning of the season, the Casmat driver finally managed to put everything together after three first races where he was severely pushed in qualifying.
Out of the Top 20 in Nysum at the end of the first two qualifying heats of race 1, the Swede had climbed 10 positions in Q3 to grab twelfth place in the intermediate classification.
A scenario that he experienced in Nysum 2 by going from 19th to 11th place between Q2 and Q3.
Even better, during race 1 in Tierp, Elias Svensson was only 19th after Q2 before setting the absolute best time in Q3, which allowed him to take fifth place in the intermediate classification.
“When the car works, I know I have the speed to play up front, but we had a few small technical issues that never allowed us to maintain our level of efficiency throughout the qualifying heats,” admitted Elias last Saturday in Race 1 at Tierp after he had just secured his spot in the Finals.
“It’s a bit frustrating because I know that we can compete at the top in this championship. Nevertheless, since Nysum, we have made some small adjustments to the car and to the suspension and I must admit that I feel much more comfortable behind the wheel”.
Indeed, if a collision in the final of Race 1 in Tierp did not allow him to confirm these good feelings, the situation was quite different the following day. Able to set the best time twice in qualifying during Race 2, Svensson took the 16 points allocated to the winner of the intermediate classification before dominating the debates in the semi-final and final to conclude his weekend with a perfect score of 30 units.
This performance allowed the Casmat driver to move up to third place in the overall standings, only 10 points behind leader Thomas Eek Murstad, even though Svensson was only in eighth place in the championship when he arrived in Tierp.
Something to be excited about for the Värmland driver.
“It’s an incredible feeling. After our crash on Saturday in the final of race 1, we worked hard to get the car back in shape so this win feels great. I’m only ten points off the top of the championship so it’s a very good thing going into the rest of the season and the next round in Kouvola. I already raced last year on this track (with a qualification in the final of race 2 – ed. note) and even if it is perhaps not the best track for our chassis, I will make sure to give my best and finish on the podium again”
